The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to machines for crimping electrical terminals to electrical wires, and more particularly, to a feed mechanisms for terminal crimping machines.
Terminal crimping machines have been used in the connector industry to effect termination of a single electrical wire or one or more electrical wires of a cable. Known terminal crimping machines have an interchangeable tooling assembly called an applicator. The applicator may include a crimping zone having opposing crimping tools for crimping a terminal to one or more electrical wires. For example, the crimping zone of the applicator may include an anvil and an applicator ram that holds a crimping tool-head (sometimes referred to as a “wire crimper”) that opposes the anvil. In operation, a combination of the terminal and the electrical wire(s) is positioned within the crimping zone. The applicator ram is then driven toward the anvil until the crimping tool-head engages the terminal. Compression of the terminal between the anvil and the crimping tool-head crimps the terminal to the wire(s).
Some known terminal crimping machines include a feed mechanism that feeds the terminals to the applicator. For example, the feed mechanism typically includes a feed finger that pushes the terminals into the crimping zone of the applicator. Various types of feed styles are used by the feed mechanisms of terminal crimping machines to drive movement of the feed finger, such as mechanical, air, and servo feed styles. Within mechanical feed styles, movement of the feed finger to push the terminals into the crimping zone is driven by the applicator ram of the applicator. Specifically, the feed mechanism includes a cam that is operatively connected to the applicator ram of the applicator. Movement of the applicator ram away from the anvil moves the cam into engagement with a cam follower of the feed mechanism. The cam follower is connected to the feed finger through linkage that moves the feed finger in a direction toward the crimping zone of the applicator as the cam moves away from the anvil with the applicator ram. Accordingly, as the applicator ram moves away from the anvil, engagement between the cam and the cam follower causes the feed finger to push a terminal into the crimping zone.
The amount of travel that the feed finger moves to push a terminal into the crimping zone is typically referred to as a “feed stroke”. The feed stroke may be adjustable, for example to accommodate different terminals, different operating conditions, and/or the like. For some terminals and/or operating conditions, a relatively short feed stroke is desired. At least some known feed mechanisms achieve relatively short feed strokes by allowing the cam follower to lift off of the cam at one or more points during the feed stroke. Lifting the cam follower off of the cam indirectly shortens the cam lift, which results in a shorter feed stroke. For example, the cam follower may be initially spaced apart from the cam at the beginning of a feed stroke. As the cam moves further away from the anvil, the cam follower engages the cam at an advanced position along the lift profile of the cam. Accordingly, the cam follower travels along less of the lift profile of the cam, which results in less movement of the cam follower and therefore a shorter feed stroke of the feed finger. However, when the cam follower lifts off the cam during a feed stroke, an instantaneous and/or uncontrolled acceleration, or jerk, is translated to the feed finger, and therefore to the terminal, when the cam follower ultimately engages the lift profile of the cam. Such a jerk of the feed finger and terminal may negatively affect the repeatability and accuracy of feeding the terminal into the crimping zone of the applicator.